Randy Johnston

Randy Johnston has had an illustrious 47-year career in ceramics. He is recognized internationally as an artist who has pursued functional expression and brought a fresh aesthetic vision to contemporary form, and for his many contributions to the development of wood kiln technology in the United States. He is professor and department chair emeritus at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, where he taught ceramics and drawing. His work has been exhibited internationally and he is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Bush Artist Fellowship, granted by The Bush Foundation in Minnesota, two visual artist fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Distinguished Teaching Award in American Arts, from The James Renwick Society of the Smithsonian. Johnston received his MFA from Southern Illinois University and a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Warren MacKenzie. He also studied in Japan at the Pottery of Shimaoka Tatsuzo, who was a student of Shoji Hamada. Johnston has presented hundreds of lectures and guest artist presentations worldwide. He has his work in the permanent collections of, Victoria and Albert, London, UK; Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), Minneapolis, MN; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO and numerous international, public and private collections.